This whole post was one of the most wholly revealing things I've read in quite awhile. Thanks.daniel wrote:By understanding the predictive nature of pattern recognition, you can apply the SAME systems to the opposite effect--supplying a pattern that leads to a dead end, a place where the train of thought gets derailed. This is called an "open mind," because it is open-ended--you have to CREATE a prediction, since none is given to you to "find" by accident. Which means you have to consider alternatives and run "scenarios" in your head to see which would have the best solution, as that "path" might actually occur, since you just walked it.
The Mind Has No Firewall
Moderator:daniel
Re: The Mind Has No Firewall
I agree it is very valuable. One of the things I have observed for years is the "Re-active" nature (default pattern recognition) of society instead of "Pro-active" problem solving. And more-so, you see this on the micro levels of the hierarchy structures as well. An example would be just about any company structure whereas low level employees operate almost entirely from a "script" of recognized responses, and anything beyond they simply do not have the knowledge or training to deal with. As such, insistence and non acceptance of the script simply navigates you up to the next level of equally restrictive and reactive pattern recognition, which of course becomes very tiresome and frustrating.daniel wrote:
By understanding the predictive nature of pattern recognition, you can apply the SAME systems to the opposite effect--supplying a pattern that leads to a dead end, a place where the train of thought gets derailed. This is called an "open mind," because it is open-ended--you have to CREATE a prediction, since none is given to you to "find" by accident. Which means you have to consider alternatives and run "scenarios" in your head to see which would have the best solution, as that "path" might actually occur, since you just walked it.
When a person reaches that dead end, there are two possible consequences, which are based on your knowledge and experience:
First, which is how the bulk of the population responds, is panic. They have reached a point where they cannot predict any possible outcome, because they just do not have sufficient knowledge and experience to check for similar patterns that might provide a solution (one of the reasons for the dumbing-down of education). When a person panics, then will turn to others that HAVE solutions to save them. Sound familiar? You're exposed to it, constantly, by all the beneficent world leaders. As long as you remain afraid, you'll turn to them for solutions.
Second, a person responds with curiosity, asking themselves, "how the heck did I get here" and "hummm, I wonder where it leads?" Then they begin to draw on their knowledge and experience from other areas (called abstraction--the functions of the higher levels of the neocortex), to see if something comes close, then how it needs to be modified to fit as a potential "prediction" to this path.
Further it also easily observed today that previously simple and mundane tasks, are purposely made dead ends in a vortex of complexity.
Re: The Mind Has No Firewall
I was re-reading daniel's Time and Timelines paper this morning and these 3 paragraphs stood out and seem relevant to this thread:
Time and Timelines, Page 5, paragraghs 4,5,6:
Now here's the surprise consequence... there is no temporal law that says you cannot get out of your
car, move the tree, and continue along the route you wanted to follow in the first place! It creates an
inconvenience, but is not insurmountable. Once you know what is coming, you don't have to still be
in the way once it gets here. If you were standing on a street, looked up and saw a piano falling out a
10th story window right above you, would you just scream, “the end is near!” and get squashed, or just
step out of the way?
If you remain ignorant, you'll just follow the crowd around the obstacles placed by those that formed
the timeline, going where they wanted you to go. Let's face it, people are lazy and will usually take the
easiest path. And that is how they keep control—providing easy “paths,” not only in timelines, but in
politics, legality, economics, food, fuel... just about anything you can name. Odds are you never even
knew that there was a choice. Those who wake up, have a choice.
Implementing the choice is another matter.
Time and Timelines, Page 5, paragraghs 4,5,6:
Now here's the surprise consequence... there is no temporal law that says you cannot get out of your
car, move the tree, and continue along the route you wanted to follow in the first place! It creates an
inconvenience, but is not insurmountable. Once you know what is coming, you don't have to still be
in the way once it gets here. If you were standing on a street, looked up and saw a piano falling out a
10th story window right above you, would you just scream, “the end is near!” and get squashed, or just
step out of the way?
If you remain ignorant, you'll just follow the crowd around the obstacles placed by those that formed
the timeline, going where they wanted you to go. Let's face it, people are lazy and will usually take the
easiest path. And that is how they keep control—providing easy “paths,” not only in timelines, but in
politics, legality, economics, food, fuel... just about anything you can name. Odds are you never even
knew that there was a choice. Those who wake up, have a choice.
Implementing the choice is another matter.
Humor
I would like to clarify what I mean by "humor," in the context I have used it. I'm not talking about slapstick, deadpan or the general insulting or degrading that seems to fill Comedy Central these days. I don't find that humorous... as an experiment, I watched Comedy Central a while back for 4 hours--and did not even crack a smile, let alone laugh, even though "prompted" by the laugh tracks and applause signs over the audiences in the shows. They probably would laugh, either, if they weren't being told what to do as "good slaves" in the crowd mindset.
Remember that the brain works by pattern recognition. The more often a pattern is repeated, the more often it is LIKELY to be repeated again. That is why training works... patterns are the first step the brain uses to narrow down a choice of actions. After other possibilities are removed, the pattern executes a "script" in the cerebellum that contains the list of body motions, mental operations, etc., to perform the duties associated with that pattern match. When that pattern is repeated often enough, your mind just executes the relevant script "without even thinking about it," because the high value attached to that pattern--and you've become a robot.
What I would call "good humor" (not the ice cream) parallels that process. You have to find a situation that matches 99% of an existing, hard-coded pattern so, in the mind, it is running on a parallel path with those firing neurons. Give it long enough for the brain to enter the "recognized" state, then take a short jump off the track to another path, so the script associated with the hard-coded pattern DOES NOT get executed... instead, some other process fires off into a "safe" region of the brain--good choices are fond, childhood memories (cartoons) and general entertainment from which pleasure is derived. This creates the safe zone, because the breaking of the pattern is now associated with a pleasant experience--not the ship falling off the edge of the Earth (departure from the confines of the world view).
To use an example from my papers, I start talking about science and discoveries, and when I get to the part about "name dropping," you end up with Albert Einstone--not Albert Einstein--and end up in a cave in Bedrock, rather than than a classroom in the physics department at a University. People find that "funny" because a highly recognized pattern that was accepted as "absolute truth" put your line of thought into a most unlikely region of the brain. And now your mind has to figured out how that happened... because it should not have! So it initiates a re-evaluation of that hard-coded pattern to see where the break occurred.
A good example of this process was done by James Burke in the "Connections" television series, where he would exploit this "near match" process to relate things that one would not consider had any relation at all. People find that "interesting" because it is creating new pathways in the mind, and consciousness likes that kind of stuff, because learning is evolving.
Because of that correlation between new ideas and humor, when you now run across a Flintstones reference, that "exception" to an ingrained pattern gets fired off again--and your thought goes back to the concepts related in the paper, that did not match the existing patterns.
So if you want to present this new information to your friends, study the classic comedies, or people who base their work on the old, comedic masters. Good choices come from actors that do stage work, where body language, particularly facial expression, operates in conjunction with timing and presentation.
I've always loved Jack Benny, with his parody of the wealthy cheapskate (which is curiously still very applicable these days) and his horrible violin playing (even though Benny was a master violinist... I guess you have to be that good, to be that bad!) There was one old radio show, in particular, that always cracks me up. Jack has a music instructor there, giving him violin lessons, and Jack is working on his intermezzo sequence as the instructor is speaking to him, in rhythm with the music, trying to be encouraging...
(music)
"Softly like a birdie chirping..."
(music)
"You sound like a horse that's burping..."
(music)
Heck, I'm laughing right now from the memory of that... who would connect a classic, violin intermezzo with a burping horse? But it does illustrate the point. Whenever I hear a violinist make a mistake, I'm brought right back to the burping horse.
And you find the same with a lot of the Shakespearean comedians of the time, all with their particular style. George Burns (Jack Benny's best friend) with his deadpan, dry wit, Gracie Allen with "brilliant idiot" approach that made her world famous, Jackie Gleason, who had one of those faces that could convey more in one glance than a 30-minute dialogue could for others. Dick Van Dyke's TV series, where the characters ARE comedy writers for the Allen Brady Show, provides a lot of insight as to how comedy works, while using it to make the show a classic comedy. Morey Amsterdam (Buddy), "the human joke machine," is definitely a "one of a kind" comedian that has never been replaced.
There are some comedy series I would recommend, which is where most of my humor comes from. The first 4 seasons of "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" (when Frank Conniff, "TV's Frank" from MST-3000 was involved) has some amazing writing. And a lot of subtle things, too, that people tend to miss, such as Zelda's comment, "I'm attending a conference tonight on the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle at 8 o'clock. Or was it 10?" A little uncertain about the uncertainty lecture! That is almost a subliminal level of humor.
"Perfect Strangers" is another good one, where Mark Linn-Baker (Larry) and Bronson Pinchot (Balki) base their characters on classic comedy teams as Gleason and Carney, Laurel and Hardy and Abbott and Costello. I bit more modern, and they excel at their comedic timing.
One I only recently discovered that ran during a period when I did not watch television is, "Dharma & Greg." It is an interesting mix of parodies where the son of a mega-rich Republican marries the daughter of a '60s hippie couple. And they all play their characters to the archetypal extreme. And I love the unpredictable writing style, as it bounces you all over your psyche--and by the end of the show, makes sense!
And there are a lot of British comedies, too, such as John Cleese's masterpiece, "Fawlty Towers." So watch some comedy--but observe HOW they are making you laugh. Once you see the patterns on how to break patterns, discussing outrageous topics with others becomes much easier--and they'll even seek you out, because of the pleasant experience it provides.
Remember that the brain works by pattern recognition. The more often a pattern is repeated, the more often it is LIKELY to be repeated again. That is why training works... patterns are the first step the brain uses to narrow down a choice of actions. After other possibilities are removed, the pattern executes a "script" in the cerebellum that contains the list of body motions, mental operations, etc., to perform the duties associated with that pattern match. When that pattern is repeated often enough, your mind just executes the relevant script "without even thinking about it," because the high value attached to that pattern--and you've become a robot.
What I would call "good humor" (not the ice cream) parallels that process. You have to find a situation that matches 99% of an existing, hard-coded pattern so, in the mind, it is running on a parallel path with those firing neurons. Give it long enough for the brain to enter the "recognized" state, then take a short jump off the track to another path, so the script associated with the hard-coded pattern DOES NOT get executed... instead, some other process fires off into a "safe" region of the brain--good choices are fond, childhood memories (cartoons) and general entertainment from which pleasure is derived. This creates the safe zone, because the breaking of the pattern is now associated with a pleasant experience--not the ship falling off the edge of the Earth (departure from the confines of the world view).
To use an example from my papers, I start talking about science and discoveries, and when I get to the part about "name dropping," you end up with Albert Einstone--not Albert Einstein--and end up in a cave in Bedrock, rather than than a classroom in the physics department at a University. People find that "funny" because a highly recognized pattern that was accepted as "absolute truth" put your line of thought into a most unlikely region of the brain. And now your mind has to figured out how that happened... because it should not have! So it initiates a re-evaluation of that hard-coded pattern to see where the break occurred.
A good example of this process was done by James Burke in the "Connections" television series, where he would exploit this "near match" process to relate things that one would not consider had any relation at all. People find that "interesting" because it is creating new pathways in the mind, and consciousness likes that kind of stuff, because learning is evolving.
Because of that correlation between new ideas and humor, when you now run across a Flintstones reference, that "exception" to an ingrained pattern gets fired off again--and your thought goes back to the concepts related in the paper, that did not match the existing patterns.
So if you want to present this new information to your friends, study the classic comedies, or people who base their work on the old, comedic masters. Good choices come from actors that do stage work, where body language, particularly facial expression, operates in conjunction with timing and presentation.
I've always loved Jack Benny, with his parody of the wealthy cheapskate (which is curiously still very applicable these days) and his horrible violin playing (even though Benny was a master violinist... I guess you have to be that good, to be that bad!) There was one old radio show, in particular, that always cracks me up. Jack has a music instructor there, giving him violin lessons, and Jack is working on his intermezzo sequence as the instructor is speaking to him, in rhythm with the music, trying to be encouraging...
(music)
"Softly like a birdie chirping..."
(music)
"You sound like a horse that's burping..."
(music)
Heck, I'm laughing right now from the memory of that... who would connect a classic, violin intermezzo with a burping horse? But it does illustrate the point. Whenever I hear a violinist make a mistake, I'm brought right back to the burping horse.
And you find the same with a lot of the Shakespearean comedians of the time, all with their particular style. George Burns (Jack Benny's best friend) with his deadpan, dry wit, Gracie Allen with "brilliant idiot" approach that made her world famous, Jackie Gleason, who had one of those faces that could convey more in one glance than a 30-minute dialogue could for others. Dick Van Dyke's TV series, where the characters ARE comedy writers for the Allen Brady Show, provides a lot of insight as to how comedy works, while using it to make the show a classic comedy. Morey Amsterdam (Buddy), "the human joke machine," is definitely a "one of a kind" comedian that has never been replaced.
There are some comedy series I would recommend, which is where most of my humor comes from. The first 4 seasons of "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" (when Frank Conniff, "TV's Frank" from MST-3000 was involved) has some amazing writing. And a lot of subtle things, too, that people tend to miss, such as Zelda's comment, "I'm attending a conference tonight on the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle at 8 o'clock. Or was it 10?" A little uncertain about the uncertainty lecture! That is almost a subliminal level of humor.
"Perfect Strangers" is another good one, where Mark Linn-Baker (Larry) and Bronson Pinchot (Balki) base their characters on classic comedy teams as Gleason and Carney, Laurel and Hardy and Abbott and Costello. I bit more modern, and they excel at their comedic timing.
One I only recently discovered that ran during a period when I did not watch television is, "Dharma & Greg." It is an interesting mix of parodies where the son of a mega-rich Republican marries the daughter of a '60s hippie couple. And they all play their characters to the archetypal extreme. And I love the unpredictable writing style, as it bounces you all over your psyche--and by the end of the show, makes sense!
And there are a lot of British comedies, too, such as John Cleese's masterpiece, "Fawlty Towers." So watch some comedy--but observe HOW they are making you laugh. Once you see the patterns on how to break patterns, discussing outrageous topics with others becomes much easier--and they'll even seek you out, because of the pleasant experience it provides.
Power out? Let's see if many hands can make the lights work.
Facebook: daniel.phoenixiii
Facebook: daniel.phoenixiii
Re: Humor
Yeah, Morey Amsterdam was the best. I just saw him on a rerun of "Celebrity Bowling," where he said to the host that he goes there for all his hernias. The TV audience didn't seem to be enjoying him as much as I was, but he was amazing in that ad-lib setting. Even though I've seen each of the the Dick Van Dyke show episodes over and over, I can keep watching them. Obviously, I'm not watching to find out what is going to happen next, so it must be to watch how the comedy pros derail our expectations so effortlessly. They make it look easy. I just finished watching a number of episodes of the Abbott and Costello Show as well.daniel wrote: And you find the same with a lot of the Shakespearean comedians of the time, all with their particular style. George Burns (Jack Benny's best friend) with his deadpan, dry wit, Gracie Allen with "brilliant idiot" approach that made her world famous, Jackie Gleason, who had one of those faces that could convey more in one glance than a 30-minute dialogue could for others. Dick Van Dyke's TV series, where the characters ARE comedy writers for the Allen Brady Show, provides a lot of insight as to how comedy works, while using it to make the show a classic comedy. Morey Amsterdam (Buddy), "the human joke machine," is definitely a "one of a kind" comedian that has never been replaced.
The comedy "rule of three" has always fascinated me. First, you establish a precedent. Second, repeat it to create a pattern. Third, derail and break the pattern.
What passes for comedy today is mostly mean spirited. Making fun of people isn't funny. Parodies are something else, though, because they are more of a tribute to the person, not laughing at someone at their own expense. The old SCTV series did amazing parodies. The Seinfeld TV show is a favorite of so many people, and I've seen them all many times, but I can't watch them any more. In each episode, they go out of their way to make life hard for someone and that doesn't make me laugh anymore, but Jerry Seinfeld by himself can still make me laugh in a standup situation.
"just down the road a little way, turn left, cross the drawbridge, and you will be my guest tonight."
-- directions to the grail castle
-- directions to the grail castle
Re: Humor
You should watch Dharma & Greg... they are all free on YouTube. There is almost always a one-liner buried somewhere in the show that does me in, and I'm on the floor, laughing. I particularly like Edward (Mitchell Ryan) who is another one of those classic actors with perfect timing and delivery. He'll set me off laughing with just a perfectly-timed facial expression. Doesn't even have to say a word... and the reactions from the others are excellent. They had a very good crew on that show. I might watch some tonight... they certainly do lift my spirits and it's nice to feel "alive" again. I do love a good laugh.PHIon wrote:Yeah, Morey Amsterdam was the best. I just saw him on a rerun of "Celebrity Bowling," where he said to the host that he goes there for all his hernias. The TV audience didn't seem to be enjoying him as much as I was, but he was amazing in that ad-lib setting. Even though I've seen each of the the Dick Van Dyke show episodes over and over, I can keep watching them. Obviously, I'm not watching to find out what is going to happen next, so it must be to watch how the comedy pros derail our expectations so effortlessly. They make it look easy. I just finished watching a number of episodes of the Abbott and Costello Show as well.
Ah yes, the classic comedy "triple." Wilcock, Icke, shoehorn!PHIon wrote:The comedy "rule of three" has always fascinated me. First, you establish a precedent. Second, repeat it to create a pattern. Third, derail and break the pattern.
That triple is well known in nature as it is based on the vector, which requires 2 points to "shoot the arrow of expectation," only to find out the target was somewhere else.
I'm with you on Seinfeld. Jerry just can't act! Though Kramer makes the show worth watching.PHIon wrote:What passes for comedy today is mostly mean spirited. Making fun of people isn't funny. Parodies are something else, though, because they are more of a tribute to the person, not laughing at someone at their own expense. The old SCTV series did amazing parodies. The Seinfeld TV show is a favorite of so many people, and I've seen them all many times, but I can't watch them any more. In each episode, they go out of their way to make life hard for someone and that doesn't make me laugh anymore, but Jerry Seinfeld by himself can still make me laugh in a standup situation.
Power out? Let's see if many hands can make the lights work.
Facebook: daniel.phoenixiii
Facebook: daniel.phoenixiii
Re: The Mind Has No Firewall
I've been watching it since you first mentioned it. The last time I did was in primary school (and synchronized in Italian, I believe, but the original is better) ...daniel wrote:You should watch Dharma & Greg... they are all free on YouTube.
Same for me, thanks for bringing it updaniel wrote:they certainly do lift my spirits and it's nice to feel "alive" again. I do love a good laugh.
The day you wrote that post I went hiking with my friend (it's getting addictive, BTW!) and we also talked about the lack of good comedies in the last several years. I've been looking for some good (engaging) comedy for a long time. The (mostly Italian) ones that I had watched before I broke out don't make me laugh anymore - they are mostly related to sex or sports, and are pretty obscene and heavily rivalry-oriented.Interesting analogy ...daniel wrote:That triple is well known in nature as it is based on the vector, which requires 2 points to "shoot the arrow of expectation," only to find out the target was somewhere else.
Same for me. I liked it during college, but not anymore. Although in the final episode, they all end up in front of a judge and are thrown in jail, if I remember it correctly, paying their karmic debt.PHIon wrote:The Seinfeld TV show is a favorite of so many people, and I've seen them all many times, but I can't watch them any more. In each episode, they go out of their way to make life hard for someone and that doesn't make me laugh anymore
"You talk the talk ... do you walk the walk?" Kubrick, Full Metal Jacket
Re: The Mind Has No Firewall
AHEM
So back to the "boring" topic of the mind having no firewall
. I see on AQ where bruce shares some of his stories of influencing things supposedly "outside our control" like class teachers in school letting classes out early. And the next thing I look here there's a blog about mind firewalls. DING!
I find it interesting how its possible to influence others psychically even without the use of words and facial expressions. This isn't a statement about ethics or consequences and psychic mechanics (not like I know much about it, only what I have experienced or executed successfully) - but I do want to better understand, how it is that with some people, it feels like they just walk over you. You might have the facts, you have the confidence, you have the preparation in place. Upon contact with the given person, WHAM BAM thank you Ma'am, its over and you don't know how it happened but the other person made you feel, look, and act like a stupid idiot and they came out the other side as the hero smelling like roses. Or is that special butt-perfume? Hey now that's a cool business idea...
AHEM
Point is that situations like that is extremely intruiging to me. I like to think I'm a person that can handle a bit of psychic confrontation - and then I walk away thinking I need to eat some humble-pie again, because THAT JUST HAPPENED...
So, masters of the firewalls of the mind, I beckon you, bestow upon us the many wisdoms you have!
So back to the "boring" topic of the mind having no firewall
. I see on AQ where bruce shares some of his stories of influencing things supposedly "outside our control" like class teachers in school letting classes out early. And the next thing I look here there's a blog about mind firewalls. DING! I find it interesting how its possible to influence others psychically even without the use of words and facial expressions. This isn't a statement about ethics or consequences and psychic mechanics (not like I know much about it, only what I have experienced or executed successfully) - but I do want to better understand, how it is that with some people, it feels like they just walk over you. You might have the facts, you have the confidence, you have the preparation in place. Upon contact with the given person, WHAM BAM thank you Ma'am, its over and you don't know how it happened but the other person made you feel, look, and act like a stupid idiot and they came out the other side as the hero smelling like roses. Or is that special butt-perfume? Hey now that's a cool business idea...
AHEM
Point is that situations like that is extremely intruiging to me. I like to think I'm a person that can handle a bit of psychic confrontation - and then I walk away thinking I need to eat some humble-pie again, because THAT JUST HAPPENED...
So, masters of the firewalls of the mind, I beckon you, bestow upon us the many wisdoms you have!
Re: The Mind Has No Firewall
Regarding the NLP way of the Sith, I noticed it a long time ago, around the time of 9/11. In 2005 I was lucky to take an "Effective Writing" course at Loyola College of Maryland with an amazing professor. He had us students write an essay a week and he didn't tell us what to write, he just told us to write. Most of the students dreaded it, I loved it. I like writing in such a way that hopefully tugs at the readers heart and soul, the inner child.
I attempt at breaking through the mind's firewall when I write; I'd love to hear ya'lls thoughts of my essay. (I think it's very relevant to the conversation too
)
Here's one of the essay's I wrote sometime around March of 2005, this is important to note and maybe one or all of you will figure out why I say it's important.
Essay #3: The Tower of Babel
Essay # 3 : Tower of Babel
Since that fateful day the towers came crashing down the atmosphere of our country has been tainted with debris. Maybe twenty years from now it will have settled, maybe then citizens will know the real causes and effects of this tragedy. Like the idea of the glass house, Americans will not see the clear picture until they step outside their molds, open up their minds, and ask themselves – is this what life is all about? Since “9-11” the American people are standing up for their freedom, praising the nation as the nation of all nations.
Everywhere you go you breath it in. Stand in line at the grocery store and read headlines on tabloid magazines claiming that ten pounds can be lost in ten days. The need for instant gratification is no new phenomena for Americans, it started in the fifties when McDonald’s was the first fast food restaurant to open. Sadly, many people buy the polluted literature believing the impossible to be possible. Unless the article properly gives you directions on cutting a line of coke with a Platinum Visa and using a straw to snort it, ten pounds will not come off that fast. Do the consumers know that what they are reading is nothing but garbage, meant to clutter their mind?
Many of the tabloids found in the checkout line focus on the image of the stars, enticing you with headlines like “how to look like …”. Think about this one for a minute, why anyone would want to look like someone else, or copy someone else’s wardrobe – even if they may be rich and famous. By doing so does one think this will make them too, both rich and famous? Americans everywhere buy this stuff. People with good self-esteem are happy with who they are, they accept their imperfections, and they create their own style; thus, they do not need some stranger telling them in an article what to do with their lives
Hidden at the bottom of the magazine rack is a Newsweek. On the cover is a picture of a precious baby staring at the camera lens with his big eyes. Open up the cover of this magazine and you will discover that the precious child has autism. America’s form of expression is “pop-culture”, “pop” meaning popular; thus, our culture is defined as popular. Autism is a condition that keeps children from expressing themselves to the outside-world. The article’s aim is to inform the public about the rising epidemic of children having this disease. The parent’s of an autistic child will never hear their child utter the words “I love you.”
For the second time in history the commander-in-chief goes by the name George Bush. For the second time, Americans are fighting for the freedom of the Iraqi people. The decision was probably made before the second tower hit ground zero. Immediately and ever since the tragedy one can find headlines in the check-out accusing all blame for the tragedy towards the “terrorists.” Forget about Columbine, forget about the Uni-bomber, forget about the Oklahoma City bombing; the terrorists were from another country. All the people living in this nation of all nations are saints.
Since that fateful day our country has been on “high-alert.” For the second time in history the enemy crossed over our border; homeland was hit becoming victimized by terrorists. Surely, we the people need to be kept safe in our homes watching reality shows, reading the tabloids, wondering what to wear to the mall or which chain restaurant to eat at. Yellow ribbons adorn all the BMW’s, Cadillac’s, and SUV’s – these are the citizens who support the troops. If this is the land of liberty and freedom, then why do we need to protect it?
“London bridge is falling down,
falling down, falling down,
London bridge is falling down,
my fair lady.”
I attempt at breaking through the mind's firewall when I write; I'd love to hear ya'lls thoughts of my essay. (I think it's very relevant to the conversation too
)Here's one of the essay's I wrote sometime around March of 2005, this is important to note and maybe one or all of you will figure out why I say it's important.
Essay #3: The Tower of Babel
Essay # 3 : Tower of Babel
Since that fateful day the towers came crashing down the atmosphere of our country has been tainted with debris. Maybe twenty years from now it will have settled, maybe then citizens will know the real causes and effects of this tragedy. Like the idea of the glass house, Americans will not see the clear picture until they step outside their molds, open up their minds, and ask themselves – is this what life is all about? Since “9-11” the American people are standing up for their freedom, praising the nation as the nation of all nations.
Everywhere you go you breath it in. Stand in line at the grocery store and read headlines on tabloid magazines claiming that ten pounds can be lost in ten days. The need for instant gratification is no new phenomena for Americans, it started in the fifties when McDonald’s was the first fast food restaurant to open. Sadly, many people buy the polluted literature believing the impossible to be possible. Unless the article properly gives you directions on cutting a line of coke with a Platinum Visa and using a straw to snort it, ten pounds will not come off that fast. Do the consumers know that what they are reading is nothing but garbage, meant to clutter their mind?
Many of the tabloids found in the checkout line focus on the image of the stars, enticing you with headlines like “how to look like …”. Think about this one for a minute, why anyone would want to look like someone else, or copy someone else’s wardrobe – even if they may be rich and famous. By doing so does one think this will make them too, both rich and famous? Americans everywhere buy this stuff. People with good self-esteem are happy with who they are, they accept their imperfections, and they create their own style; thus, they do not need some stranger telling them in an article what to do with their lives
Hidden at the bottom of the magazine rack is a Newsweek. On the cover is a picture of a precious baby staring at the camera lens with his big eyes. Open up the cover of this magazine and you will discover that the precious child has autism. America’s form of expression is “pop-culture”, “pop” meaning popular; thus, our culture is defined as popular. Autism is a condition that keeps children from expressing themselves to the outside-world. The article’s aim is to inform the public about the rising epidemic of children having this disease. The parent’s of an autistic child will never hear their child utter the words “I love you.”
For the second time in history the commander-in-chief goes by the name George Bush. For the second time, Americans are fighting for the freedom of the Iraqi people. The decision was probably made before the second tower hit ground zero. Immediately and ever since the tragedy one can find headlines in the check-out accusing all blame for the tragedy towards the “terrorists.” Forget about Columbine, forget about the Uni-bomber, forget about the Oklahoma City bombing; the terrorists were from another country. All the people living in this nation of all nations are saints.
Since that fateful day our country has been on “high-alert.” For the second time in history the enemy crossed over our border; homeland was hit becoming victimized by terrorists. Surely, we the people need to be kept safe in our homes watching reality shows, reading the tabloids, wondering what to wear to the mall or which chain restaurant to eat at. Yellow ribbons adorn all the BMW’s, Cadillac’s, and SUV’s – these are the citizens who support the troops. If this is the land of liberty and freedom, then why do we need to protect it?
“London bridge is falling down,
falling down, falling down,
London bridge is falling down,
my fair lady.”
"silence is the consent to slavery" ~ Daniel
Re: The Mind Has No Firewall
Yeah, I liked the final show when I saw it, but now the only part I remember being funny was the crack at the end during Jerry's standup routine about George being in cell block D. George's dumb look was what did me in on that joke.deepfsh wrote:Same for me. I liked it during college, but not anymore. Although in the final episode, they all end up in front of a judge and are thrown in jail, if I remember it correctly, paying their karmic debt.PHIon wrote:The Seinfeld TV show is a favorite of so many people, and I've seen them all many times, but I can't watch them any more. In each episode, they go out of their way to make life hard for someone and that doesn't make me laugh anymore
"just down the road a little way, turn left, cross the drawbridge, and you will be my guest tonight."
-- directions to the grail castle
-- directions to the grail castle